In the UK today, Education has failed. As it is currently practised, education fails more people than it helps. Annually, many graduates are deceived into believing a dream job awaits upon graduation. Many are deluded into thinking they posses the highly sought attributes of the ideal graduate. Many are ignorant of the fact that they are doomed simply because they attended a non Ivy-league university. The fact that there exist some sub-standard universities and that those sub-standard universities are allowed to produce sub-standard graduates is tantamount to a crime. That is the failure of education of which I am referring to. However, education in itself is not a complete failure. It still serves its limited purpose. It provides top businesses, top government and private institutions with suitable fresh graduate recruits. It provides the economy with fresh graduate workers. Understandably, as long as the best universities produce the best graduates for the best jobs, it is taken as a given that education is serving its rightful purpose. But that is only half of what a proper and effective education should do. The main aim of education is to enlighten, to inspire, to educate – to a set standard, regardless of institution. And employment should be a by-product of education, not the main product.
Today, the aim of education is simply to lead one to employment. This is not just wrong but wasteful. It is wasteful because there will never be 100% graduate employment or 0% graduate unemployment. As it is prescribed, education turns the average student into nothing more than a professional job seeker. At any given time, there are far too many graduates for the economy to absorb. As a consequence, the business of education is reduced to a heartless, wasteful, competitive, win-loose, sum-zero, elitist business. Those with the means to get the best education get the best jobs and opportunities. The rest – which are a majority - loose out. Not only do they loose out on the jobs but they also loose their education. A graduate has no validation without suitable employment. This is another failure of education.
This failure comes from the format in which education is delivered today. Education should be a two-way traffic. First, education has to enlighten, inspire, educate – to a set standard regardless of institution. Second, education should only be provided to those who want to be enlightened, those who want to be educated. In other words, only those who deserve it should be educated. This is very controversial but education cannot be delivered in any other format if it is to be proper and effective. Education cannot be delivered in any other format if the independence of the standard is to be maintained. To be worthy of education, one has to be able to demonstrate education-worthiness beyond all doubt. Anything less than an ample and appropriate demonstration of ones desire, eligibility to be educated to the highest standards should be rejected. Anything less than a comfortable demonstration of one’s academic abilities prior to entrance into a university and through out the duration of ones course should be rejected. Sub-standard graduates end up devaluing the institutions that produces them. As a consequence, education can never be for all. A medical doctor without the minimum grades and right disease-diagnosing instincts of a medical doctor is more of a menace rather than a messiah to society. An engineer without the right objective and analytical mind ends up a danger to his profession and mankind. In order to ensure those with the right attributes and capabilities go on to qualify as graduates, proper periodical testing should be the norm. This view that education should be for all is the greatest threat to proper and effective education. All intentions to open education, especially University education up to all, has always been political. What is the benefit to society of a graduate who cannot speak, write or think like a graduate? Such egalitarian practices inevitably lead to wastage and devaluation in standards of education. It also leads to the emergence of elitist universities where standards are maintained and selection processes a nightmare. If standards were maintained everywhere, there will be no room for elitism. The sub-standard students end up paying a higher price in the end.
Education is about attaining a certain academic standard. That standard has to been defended, protected, maintained and monitored for education to justify its worth. Education has to be difficult. Education has to be demanding. That is the first part. The second part is that the students themselves have to submit to this standard. Students must want to attain this high standard themselves. No institution, teacher, library or lecturer can bring a student to this standard without the will of the students themselves. The defining difference should come from the individual student. That is why there always has to be some sort of vigorous standards testing in the form of regular examinations to monitor standards.
In the final analysis, a university education should be able to guarantee a certain standard in a graduate regardless of university attended. The fact that some universities are obviously head and shoulders better than others defeats the object of setting up a university as an institution of higher learning in the first place. Why should a PhD from say South Bank University be viewed any differently from a PhD from Oxford? A levels in this country are far better in this respect as an “A” grade say in mathematics from any College is still an “A” grade regardless of the College from which it is obtained.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Myth of Academic Intelligence.
I grew up thinking that I was not quite of first rate intelligence. Luckily for me, I was never at the bottom of any of my classes either. In fact I was always in the top quarter. I mixed and mingled with the so-called very best in my classes but never really believed that I was one of them. It was the single most destructive belief I ever adopted. In fact, when looked at properly, it can be seen to be the reason why I never made it to the very top. Well, up until now. I cannot remember who said it but I feel the same and quote him here that… “Only death will prevent that from happening”. That is why I do what I do now. I am a private A Level Mathematics tutor and a student coach simply and squarely because I see far too many students wander into college and university – just as I did – not really believing they have what it takes to make profound discoveries or difference in the world. It is now my job to destroy such limiting-beliefs in the average student before they destroy the average student.
Such limiting-beliefs about intelligence are not only extremely dangerous and destructive but simply just wrong. However, no student should be blamed for adopting such beliefs. Almost all societies are designed based on such beliefs. As far back as I can go in my formative years, it was drilled into my psyche that some people naturally had what it took to succeed, while others, just as naturally, did not. As I said before, such beliefs are as dangerous as they are destructive. If you are already considered or looked upon as academically superior then you should - without guilt - enjoy all that goes with it. I wish you go on to achieve and attain the majestic and dizzy heights of success in any profession or field of your choosing. If on the other hand you are seen as merely average then you need to work on yourself rather than believe in and accept your assigned place. In today’s world, being average is a deficiency and by believing in such, you are preventing yourself from actually doing what it takes to rise to the top. You need help. Get in touch.
To start with, for one to actually lack intelligence, one would have to be walking into lampposts, walking into traffic, putting their hands in fire and poking their eyes out with sharp objects. The fact that one does not do such implies that one is intelligent. Having shown that one is intelligent, there is simply no reason why one should not ascend to the dizzy heights of academic and professional success.
Academic intelligence is always the result of some sort of effort. Why then do some exert more effort than others? That is the question. The answer is much simpler than it seems. That unquestionable and undeniable exertion of effort in order to acquire intelligence comes from a “deliberate intent” or an “accidental emotional need”. Deliberate intention is when one works hard solely to do well in an academic exercise like an examination. Most intelligent people fall under this category of hard workers. To be seen as intelligent is very rewarding and most intelligent people are used to being seen this way and just cannot bear to be seen otherwise so stay up all night if they have to just to maintain their standard or live up to expectation. It becomes an accidental emotional need when the subject of one’s study excites some pleasure or is soothing or satisfying in some emotional context. As a result, the subject of study is not as boring and tedious as normal subjects seem to be sometimes. I remember feeling some sort of pleasure while doing mathematics especially algebra during my A levels. As a result, I like mathematics more than I will ever like say biology. Biology never gave me pleasure so reading or studying it was always a chore. When there is this type of emotional connection with study, the act of studying can be intensive and result in one being able to either take in a lot at one sitting or frequently indulge in the study of the subject without getting bred or tired of it. In this category you see exceptional displays of academic brilliance. People that fall under this group dazzle with their intelligence because acquiring knowledge to them is not hard work but pleasurable.
Those who do not have any emotional connection with or satisfaction from study and no discipline to stick to a regular study pattern are unfortunate. Studying has to be a boring, tedious, emotionless and demanding deliberate intention. Not as pleasurable or as easy as in the first case but not impossible none the less. This is where training and conditioning comes in. intelligence has never been about any natural ability. If you are lucky enough to be excited about the subject, then you will always be better at the subject than those for which it is a boring chore. If not excited about the subject then you remind yourself on a regular basis why you are studying in the first place. With proper reminding or motivation, huge academic feats can be achieved.
The idea that intelligence is based on natural ability is nothing but a myth.
Such limiting-beliefs about intelligence are not only extremely dangerous and destructive but simply just wrong. However, no student should be blamed for adopting such beliefs. Almost all societies are designed based on such beliefs. As far back as I can go in my formative years, it was drilled into my psyche that some people naturally had what it took to succeed, while others, just as naturally, did not. As I said before, such beliefs are as dangerous as they are destructive. If you are already considered or looked upon as academically superior then you should - without guilt - enjoy all that goes with it. I wish you go on to achieve and attain the majestic and dizzy heights of success in any profession or field of your choosing. If on the other hand you are seen as merely average then you need to work on yourself rather than believe in and accept your assigned place. In today’s world, being average is a deficiency and by believing in such, you are preventing yourself from actually doing what it takes to rise to the top. You need help. Get in touch.
To start with, for one to actually lack intelligence, one would have to be walking into lampposts, walking into traffic, putting their hands in fire and poking their eyes out with sharp objects. The fact that one does not do such implies that one is intelligent. Having shown that one is intelligent, there is simply no reason why one should not ascend to the dizzy heights of academic and professional success.
Academic intelligence is always the result of some sort of effort. Why then do some exert more effort than others? That is the question. The answer is much simpler than it seems. That unquestionable and undeniable exertion of effort in order to acquire intelligence comes from a “deliberate intent” or an “accidental emotional need”. Deliberate intention is when one works hard solely to do well in an academic exercise like an examination. Most intelligent people fall under this category of hard workers. To be seen as intelligent is very rewarding and most intelligent people are used to being seen this way and just cannot bear to be seen otherwise so stay up all night if they have to just to maintain their standard or live up to expectation. It becomes an accidental emotional need when the subject of one’s study excites some pleasure or is soothing or satisfying in some emotional context. As a result, the subject of study is not as boring and tedious as normal subjects seem to be sometimes. I remember feeling some sort of pleasure while doing mathematics especially algebra during my A levels. As a result, I like mathematics more than I will ever like say biology. Biology never gave me pleasure so reading or studying it was always a chore. When there is this type of emotional connection with study, the act of studying can be intensive and result in one being able to either take in a lot at one sitting or frequently indulge in the study of the subject without getting bred or tired of it. In this category you see exceptional displays of academic brilliance. People that fall under this group dazzle with their intelligence because acquiring knowledge to them is not hard work but pleasurable.
Those who do not have any emotional connection with or satisfaction from study and no discipline to stick to a regular study pattern are unfortunate. Studying has to be a boring, tedious, emotionless and demanding deliberate intention. Not as pleasurable or as easy as in the first case but not impossible none the less. This is where training and conditioning comes in. intelligence has never been about any natural ability. If you are lucky enough to be excited about the subject, then you will always be better at the subject than those for which it is a boring chore. If not excited about the subject then you remind yourself on a regular basis why you are studying in the first place. With proper reminding or motivation, huge academic feats can be achieved.
The idea that intelligence is based on natural ability is nothing but a myth.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Crisis in Education
Ever since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, I predicted a similar crisis in Higher Education in this country. My prediction turns out to be correct. The recent student demonstrations against the increase in university tuition fees in London and other cities across the UK in November and December of 2010 were just the beginnings of the crisis. On the 19th of January 2011, college students demonstrated again in front of the houses of parliament in Westminster against the scrapping of Education Maintenance Allowance. Further demonstrations against tuition fees increases and the scrapping of EMA have been arranged for later this month and March of this year. With both the government and students determined not to yield, brace yourselves for a thorny ride. It will get much worse before it gets better. It has already dawned on clever students that demonstrating from here to Herefordshire will not change a thing. We are in a recession, the current higher education funding is unsustainable and national debt is staggering. The government had to do something. This is the time for students – just like the rest of us - to rise to the huge challenges that lie ahead. I can see something similar to the 80’s poll tax riots on the way. It is hard not to be convinced of the impending crisis in education if you have been following the build-up and are equipped with good judgement.
On the 15th of September 2008, Lehman Brothers – one of the world’s biggest investment banks – filed for Bankruptcy. Apparently they [Lehman Brothers] made a lot of losses in the sub-prime mortgage market. That brought about the end of a global financial powerhouse that was in business for over 150 years. For an investment bank so large to collapse so spectacularly highlighted for many the severity of the credit crisis. Severe credit crisis inevitably lead to economic recessions and governments react to economic recessions by making fiscal and monetary policy adjustments. In the UK, in response to the global recession and the huge national dept, the last labour government in its final Pre-Budget Report on the 9th of December 2010 made some fiscal policy adjustments. VAT was increased from 17.5% to 20% which took effect in January 2011 and National Insurance Contributions were increased by a further 0.5% to take effect in April 2011. In November 2009 they [the last labour administration] also commissioned The Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance to make recommendations on the future of fees policy and financial support in Higher Education for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The key recommendation of the report - headed by Lord Brown and published on the 12th of October 2010 – was that for education in this country to remain competitive and sustainable, the current £3,000 cap on university tuition fees be removed and individual universities should have the freedom to charge tuition as they saw fit. It is believed that universities will charge anything between £7,000 and £11,000 per year as from 2012. The report also recommended that repayment of any student loans after graduation only begin upon graduates earning salaries of over £21,000 a year - an increase from the current £15,000. On June the 22nd 2010, George Osborne - in his first budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer under the new coalition government - announced further fiscal adjustments. He announced a series of government spending cuts. The sectors affected by these cuts included Education, Health Care, Defence and Local Government. For Education it meant the reduction of the number of spaces available on certain courses and/or discontinuation of certain unpopular/unpractical courses all together at some institutions. Also it meant that as from January 2011, new college students no longer got the weekly EMA - Education Maintenance Allowance – which was between £10 and £30 per week.
The implications of all these cuts for the average student are huge. It will bring about changes in higher education of which many students are still not prepared for. That is the other part of the crisis. The demonstrations are just the beginnings. The economic boom times are definitely well and truly over. From 1997 to 2006, with the exception of the dot com bubble bursting in late 2000 and the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 - which slowed down the economy briefly - the UK economy was in a continuous and steady boom. According to New Labour, “Things could only get better”. More and more money was poured into higher education; more and more students were attending university. By 2007, there were already too many unemployed graduates. Unemployed not because of a recession but because there simply were too many graduates for even the boom-time economy to absorb. By 2008, things changed. A global credit crisis hit. A global recession followed. Fiscal and Monetary policies were adjusted. Public spending cuts were announced. Inevitable public sector redundancies lie ahead. The higher education tuition fees cap was removed and universities are set to charge as they see fit. Come 2012, tuition fees will be between £7,000 and £11,000. Student debt upon graduation will rise from its current average of £20,000 to £30,000 in 2009-2010 to a new average of £30,000 to £50,000 as from 2013 onwards. And there is more. College and University student numbers have been increasing yearly since 1997. University student numbers might dip come 2012 but that is not likely to be that significant as loans will be made available to cover tuition fees. Despite the severe recession and higher tuition fees, more and more school leavers are still opting to go to university - most probably because of it. Everybody seeks the good life and all students have been made to believe a university degree is the answer. The European Union is now a 27 member-state entity that offers citizens the freedom to travel, work, study and settle anywhere within the union. London is still a top international city, English is still the global language and the UK is doing better than many EU states like Greece, Spain and Ireland. These facts make the UK very attractive and draws many students to the UK especially London. In addition to EU students, there are Non-EU students as well. Many end up working and living in the UK after graduation. It is within this chaotic framework that the average student is supposed to do his/her A levels, obtains good enough grades, obtain a place at University, graduate, seek and secure an ideal graduate job – stress free. That is the crisis.
If competition for university places were as bad as the reports told us in 2009-2010, competition for graduate jobs were even worse. With the private and public sectors both downsizing, with huge numbers of graduates chasing few jobs, with the country going through the worst economic recession since the great depression, with the cost of living rising year on year, with college students no longer entitled to EMA, with university tuition fees set to increase to £9,000 per annum come 2012, with average student debt set to climb to between £30,000 and £50,000 upon graduation, with graduate unemployment at an all-time high, with morale amongst fresh graduates at an all-time low the average student should think long and hard before deciding to go to university.
In fact the decision to go to university should now be a decision to fully commit to the expensive investment in education. It is a decision to fully commit to hard work to make a return on that expensive investment in education. It is a decision that the education will and must pay off in the end. It is a decision to make oneself employable despite severe competition. When I went to university, it was assumed there will be a job afterwards. Today, to get a job, you must either be lucky or exceptionally good. Those hoping on luck need not apply. In other words, it is no longer an insurance policy, but an assurance policy. That simply is and should now become the basic requirement for those willing to attend university. There is no point attending university to see what will happen or wish a suitable job will materialize. It is way too expensive to wish for a good return. It has to be the absolute driving and burning ambition. It is either a student is willing to completely commit or not bother at all.
In a very weird sense, this crisis is good. As with every crisis, it can be an opportunity to make any system better. For sometime now, there has been concern about the quality of education in this country. There has been concern that A Levels and GCSEs are dropping in standards. I totally agree. Comparing examination papers - say Pure Mathematics - of the years 1977 and 2007 will reveal this fact even to the blind. Graduate employers have been saying this for years. This crisis should be an opportunity for reform. Higher education should be incentivized either via scholarships or otherwise. Instead of a flat system of grants and loans, universities especially in inner cities have do offer scholarships to the best performing students.
In the final analysis, this crisis will hit students hard. No amount of student protests will prevent the government cuts or the increase in tuition fees. Upon graduation, the struggle for employment will ensue. These times present real challenges for the average student. The onus lies wholly and ultimately with the student to demonstrate his or her fitness to succeed despite the crisis.
Mr Jideofo Obianyido is a private A Level Mathematics Tutor and a student coach. His new book “EDUCATION – A message to young and ambitious students” is due in April 2011. He lives in London and can be contacted via Jideofo.Obianyido@gmail.com
On the 15th of September 2008, Lehman Brothers – one of the world’s biggest investment banks – filed for Bankruptcy. Apparently they [Lehman Brothers] made a lot of losses in the sub-prime mortgage market. That brought about the end of a global financial powerhouse that was in business for over 150 years. For an investment bank so large to collapse so spectacularly highlighted for many the severity of the credit crisis. Severe credit crisis inevitably lead to economic recessions and governments react to economic recessions by making fiscal and monetary policy adjustments. In the UK, in response to the global recession and the huge national dept, the last labour government in its final Pre-Budget Report on the 9th of December 2010 made some fiscal policy adjustments. VAT was increased from 17.5% to 20% which took effect in January 2011 and National Insurance Contributions were increased by a further 0.5% to take effect in April 2011. In November 2009 they [the last labour administration] also commissioned The Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance to make recommendations on the future of fees policy and financial support in Higher Education for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The key recommendation of the report - headed by Lord Brown and published on the 12th of October 2010 – was that for education in this country to remain competitive and sustainable, the current £3,000 cap on university tuition fees be removed and individual universities should have the freedom to charge tuition as they saw fit. It is believed that universities will charge anything between £7,000 and £11,000 per year as from 2012. The report also recommended that repayment of any student loans after graduation only begin upon graduates earning salaries of over £21,000 a year - an increase from the current £15,000. On June the 22nd 2010, George Osborne - in his first budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer under the new coalition government - announced further fiscal adjustments. He announced a series of government spending cuts. The sectors affected by these cuts included Education, Health Care, Defence and Local Government. For Education it meant the reduction of the number of spaces available on certain courses and/or discontinuation of certain unpopular/unpractical courses all together at some institutions. Also it meant that as from January 2011, new college students no longer got the weekly EMA - Education Maintenance Allowance – which was between £10 and £30 per week.
The implications of all these cuts for the average student are huge. It will bring about changes in higher education of which many students are still not prepared for. That is the other part of the crisis. The demonstrations are just the beginnings. The economic boom times are definitely well and truly over. From 1997 to 2006, with the exception of the dot com bubble bursting in late 2000 and the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 - which slowed down the economy briefly - the UK economy was in a continuous and steady boom. According to New Labour, “Things could only get better”. More and more money was poured into higher education; more and more students were attending university. By 2007, there were already too many unemployed graduates. Unemployed not because of a recession but because there simply were too many graduates for even the boom-time economy to absorb. By 2008, things changed. A global credit crisis hit. A global recession followed. Fiscal and Monetary policies were adjusted. Public spending cuts were announced. Inevitable public sector redundancies lie ahead. The higher education tuition fees cap was removed and universities are set to charge as they see fit. Come 2012, tuition fees will be between £7,000 and £11,000. Student debt upon graduation will rise from its current average of £20,000 to £30,000 in 2009-2010 to a new average of £30,000 to £50,000 as from 2013 onwards. And there is more. College and University student numbers have been increasing yearly since 1997. University student numbers might dip come 2012 but that is not likely to be that significant as loans will be made available to cover tuition fees. Despite the severe recession and higher tuition fees, more and more school leavers are still opting to go to university - most probably because of it. Everybody seeks the good life and all students have been made to believe a university degree is the answer. The European Union is now a 27 member-state entity that offers citizens the freedom to travel, work, study and settle anywhere within the union. London is still a top international city, English is still the global language and the UK is doing better than many EU states like Greece, Spain and Ireland. These facts make the UK very attractive and draws many students to the UK especially London. In addition to EU students, there are Non-EU students as well. Many end up working and living in the UK after graduation. It is within this chaotic framework that the average student is supposed to do his/her A levels, obtains good enough grades, obtain a place at University, graduate, seek and secure an ideal graduate job – stress free. That is the crisis.
If competition for university places were as bad as the reports told us in 2009-2010, competition for graduate jobs were even worse. With the private and public sectors both downsizing, with huge numbers of graduates chasing few jobs, with the country going through the worst economic recession since the great depression, with the cost of living rising year on year, with college students no longer entitled to EMA, with university tuition fees set to increase to £9,000 per annum come 2012, with average student debt set to climb to between £30,000 and £50,000 upon graduation, with graduate unemployment at an all-time high, with morale amongst fresh graduates at an all-time low the average student should think long and hard before deciding to go to university.
In fact the decision to go to university should now be a decision to fully commit to the expensive investment in education. It is a decision to fully commit to hard work to make a return on that expensive investment in education. It is a decision that the education will and must pay off in the end. It is a decision to make oneself employable despite severe competition. When I went to university, it was assumed there will be a job afterwards. Today, to get a job, you must either be lucky or exceptionally good. Those hoping on luck need not apply. In other words, it is no longer an insurance policy, but an assurance policy. That simply is and should now become the basic requirement for those willing to attend university. There is no point attending university to see what will happen or wish a suitable job will materialize. It is way too expensive to wish for a good return. It has to be the absolute driving and burning ambition. It is either a student is willing to completely commit or not bother at all.
In a very weird sense, this crisis is good. As with every crisis, it can be an opportunity to make any system better. For sometime now, there has been concern about the quality of education in this country. There has been concern that A Levels and GCSEs are dropping in standards. I totally agree. Comparing examination papers - say Pure Mathematics - of the years 1977 and 2007 will reveal this fact even to the blind. Graduate employers have been saying this for years. This crisis should be an opportunity for reform. Higher education should be incentivized either via scholarships or otherwise. Instead of a flat system of grants and loans, universities especially in inner cities have do offer scholarships to the best performing students.
In the final analysis, this crisis will hit students hard. No amount of student protests will prevent the government cuts or the increase in tuition fees. Upon graduation, the struggle for employment will ensue. These times present real challenges for the average student. The onus lies wholly and ultimately with the student to demonstrate his or her fitness to succeed despite the crisis.
Mr Jideofo Obianyido is a private A Level Mathematics Tutor and a student coach. His new book “EDUCATION – A message to young and ambitious students” is due in April 2011. He lives in London and can be contacted via Jideofo.Obianyido@gmail.com
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